Southern California -- this just in

Family donates Ruben Salazar's archives to USC

July 6, 2011 | 6:39
am

The family of former Los Angeles Times columnist Ruben Salazar has donated his archives to the USC Libraries, where they will be made available for public review.

The collection includes 10 bins of photographs, letters, draft manuscripts of articles and personal items such as the newsman's briefcase. Some of the photos show Salazar interviewing singer and actor Frank Sinatra and former Presidents Richard Nixon and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

"I hope this will be an inspiration and educational tool for a lot of years," said Barbara Robinson, librarian at the Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies.

An award-winning journalist, Salazar was a trailblazer whose work helped inspire a generation of Latino reporters who followed in his wake. His articles and columns explained the successes and shortcomings of the area's burgeoning Latino community.

Salazar was a foreign correspondent for The Times covering the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic and the war in Vietnam. He was also the newspaper's Mexico City bureau chief before returning in 1969 to Los Angeles, where he became a part-time columnist for The Times and news director at Spanish-language KMEX-TV.

Salazar was killed by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy in 1970 while covering the National Chicano Moratorium Against the Vietnam War in East L.A. The slaying was never fully investigated at the time, which helped lead to years of speculation and questions about the shooting.

Parks, schools, scholarships and a U.S. Postal Service stamp bear Salazar's name. His archives were donated by his children, Lisa Salazar Johnson, Stephanie Salazar Cook and John Salazar.

Appointments to view to view the collection can be made via email to: boeckmann@usc.edu